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According to Sean Rodriguez, the old adage when it comes to home run trots is to keep your head down and make it quick rounding the bases. During the past couple seasons, that code has been a popular topic of conversation, as modern-day showmanship intersects old-fashioned standards that have been around almost as long as the game itself. Last year, Yasiel Puig angered rivals with his ebullient—some say, disrespectful—approach to the game that included sliding into home to complete a walk-off homer and pointing his finger after a postseason triple. And Atlanta catcher Brian McCann took umbrage with Milwaukee centerfielder Carlos Gomez, after Gomez spent too much time admiring a homer he hit and then sauntered around the bases. Old timers screamed about the breaches. Younger players fired back, saying the critics were out of touch with the modern athlete. Sides were chosen. Are you procode or pro-player? “The game is evolving,” Tampa Bay infielder Sean Rodriguez says. “You take what used to be and what is now and try to come to the middle. As long as you’re doing something to help your team, it’s okay.” It’s difficult to determine what is all right and what is forbidden. For more than a century, it was easy. Don’t show anybody up, or you’ll deal with a heater under the chin. Today, the code has codicils. The rules are more elastic. So, we call on Kaat, who played from 1959-83, and Rodriguez, who enters his seventh major-league season, to provide some clarification on some of the more elements of the code. Don’t Look Now McCann’s response to Gomez, while extreme, does MICHAEL IVINS/BOSTON RED/GETTY IMAGES SPORT represent the general feeling of players regarding how someone should react to a hitting a homer. “Nowadays, most pitchers are okay if you take a few steps and show some joy,” Rodriguez says. “Some pitchers don’t like it at all. But it is an unwritten rule that you should act like you’ve done it before.” Kaat understands that times are different, but he isn’t thrilled by anyone who enjoys his work too much. He certainly didn’t approve when he pitched. Just ask former Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans, who The baseball code to base-stealing is a conundrum: Don’t steal when you’re up a lot of runs or if you’re down big. MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE


2014 Pittsburgh Gameday HQ
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